Lesson

In your last lesson I initiated you into the possibilities of pantomime magic and the working out of a story or routine along with it.

In this lesson I will continue the work and present a novelty pantomimic routine under the heading of "The Phantom of the Circus."

It involves only one illusion cabinet, a parlor screen, a chair, costumes and a few small properties. It is not difficult to perform and has an unexpected finish so important in modern day presentations. There is more or less of the dramatic until the finish and then comedy makes an unexpected appearance. The audience is aroused throughout the action of the illusion as to just what the solution will be, and when the solution presents itself, it is so different from what an audience would expect.

As a magician I trust you will get the idea of romancing an illusion and building a breathing, living story into inanimate illusion paraphernalia. Not only illusions, but the smallest of pocket tricks permit of romancing. Many times the proper story will take a small insignificant piece of magic and place it in the feature class.

After all, you are selling your magic to the audience and your success depends on how well you sell it. The better the packages it is put up in, the greater the sales.

In connection with your study of romance in magic, I wish you would study the advertising pages of our high class magazines and see how advertising men take commonplace articles and build them into an environment of unusual sales interest. There is a dominating environment placed about the article that makes us believe that we would like to possess it.

Many a good article has gone begging until a good advertising man got a hold of it and breathed an interesting romance or story around it.

The stage offers great possibilities for illusion material of a different sort and material, daring and different, that sweeps an audience away in an avalanche of emotion. The problem of the producer is always, how to stimulate new interest and greater interest.

The professional wants interest at every moment. He knows the danger of lagging moments. The untrained amateur tires an audience because of the long waits between points of interest.

For example, go into your high class city theatre and note the careful routine and timing of a show, then go into a small town and notice an amateur show with its long waits between acts and the various bits.

I want you to be professional and sustain interest. I want people to talk about the excellence of your work and want to see you perform again. I want people going away "tickled pink" that they came to see you, and then go out and peddle mouth to mouth the wonders of your work. It may take time and care on your part, but isn't it worth it?

There are a lot of things that either needs to be repaired, or put together when youre a homeowner. If youre a new homeowner, and have just gotten out of apartment style living, you might want to take this list with you to the hardware store. From remolding jobs to putting together furniture you can use these 5 power tools to get your stuff together. Dont forget too that youll need a few extra tools for other jobs around the house.